Jefferson held a pep assembly during the spring of 2010 to honor seven seniors, including the decorated Terrences, Ross and Jones, all college bound and in part responsible for leading the Democrats to three consecutive Class 5A state basketball titles.

As they left the gym floor that day, the question begged: what’s next for Jefferson? End of an era, or can the Democrats sustain this success?

A talented group of freshmen entered the building a few months later, with plans to keep Jefferson basketball prominent. But what this group had in talent, they lacked in patience.

One by one, as success didn’t come easy and losses mounted, they left Jefferson. Within two years, at least a half dozen 2010 freshmen from basketball transferred to other schools.

Not Silas Melson. He was determined to see this through. And so he did. Jefferson 2.0 was born.

It wasn’t always like this for Melson, the state’s premier player who signed a letter of intent at Gonzaga in November. During that ill-fated freshman year, Jefferson went 14-10, and lost to Milwaukie 70-49 in a state playoff game. The Democrats didn’t even come close to winning the Portland Interscholastic League title, something that had become a foregone conclusion in recent years.

“One of the worst teams I’ve every played for. Practices were bad, body language bad, on and off the court. The seniors didn’t do their job,” Melson said of his freshman season.

The freshmen exodus from Jefferson began after that season, and continued the following year, when the Democrats were an also-ran again, failing to make the state tournament.

One by one, Melson saw his basketball friends leave for other schools. Yet Melson remained committed to Jefferson.

“They all left because they thought the grass was greener, or it was a parent’s decision,” Melson said. “I just waited it out because I knew Jeff was always a top-notch basketball program. I knew the time would come when we would rise to the top. I knew at Jeff I would get stuff that I would get nowhere else.”

“It’s a process,” Strickland said. “These kids were very young and had a bunch of parents who wanted early success, and they didn’t understand that in athletics and in life, you have to take some lumps.”

Melson got his guidance from home. His parents both went to Jefferson. His father, Tony, was a star football player who played at Portland State. Strickland says it’s a “tribute to his parents” that Melson stuck it out at Jefferson.

“My dad,” said Melson, “taught me to persevere.”

The reward for Melson is a chance to win back-to-back state championships.

Growing up, Melson wanted to be like his father and become a football star at Jefferson. He was good at the big three sports, and might have turned to baseball if Jefferson had had a decent program. But basketball became Melson’s sport late in middle school. He came to Jefferson with a good all-around game and a reputation for playing defense.

Melson is quiet, which he says is sometimes a problem in trying to be a leader. But when situations call for someone to take charge, Melson steps to the front. When Jefferson was locked in a tight game earlier this season against West Linn, No. 1 in 6A, Melson took over, scoring 36 points and all but taking Lions point guard Payton Pritchard out of the game.

“He’s a 6-3 Terrence Ross,” said Strickland, comparing Melson to the former Jefferson star who now plays for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. “He’s a guy who can shoot the ball from anywhere. Silas has a little more ball handling skills than Ross, and he can fill a point guard.

“He’s one of the best kids I’ve coached.”

Like the Jones and Ross class did four years ago, Melson is about to say goodbye to Jefferson. He hopes his legacy is more than a championship or two.

“A lot of people portray a Jeff player as someone with pants sagging, and doing all this bad stuff. I want to show that Jeff has good academics, and that you can be a good athlete coming out at the same time,” Melson said.